Lightspeed India Partners is looking to raise over $500 million for its fourth fund as one of the most successful venture funds in the world, as it looks to double down on early-stage bets and expand its focus to Southeast Asia, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Byju's, a edtech giant, is one of the companies in the firm's portfolio.
Lightspeed Venture Partners is pushing to raise about $6 billion for a number of its funds, and the deliberations for the new India fund is part of that effort. The source said that the India fund is expected to close within the next three to four months.
Lightspeed India Partners' fourth fund will be its largest to date. The firm, which has been operating in India for over a decade, closed its third fund in 2020.
Lightspeed plans to continue to back early-stage bets in a variety of sectors with the new fund and also expand its focus on the Southeast Asian region and aggressively explore opportunities in web3 according to a source.
The number of startups and the median amount of capital they raise in seed and Series A financing rounds have surged in the country. Indian startups raised a record $39 billion last year, three times more than the previous best.
SoftBank, Alpha Wave Global and Tiger Global increased their investments in India last year. SoftBank invested more than $3 billion in Indian startups last year and plans to invest up to $10 billion this year. Insight Partners and other funds have become more active in the country.
The deliberations of the new fund comes weeks after the launch of the sixth India fund. The CapTable reported that Sequoia Capital India is looking to raise a large fund.
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